


Empty Bed, Empty Arms

by Genie60



Series: Poldark Series 2- Dribs and Drabs [26]
Category: Poldark (TV 2015)
Genre: Compromise, F/M, Loneliness, Marriage, Sharing a Bed, s2 AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2017-05-04
Packaged: 2018-10-28 01:50:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10821231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Genie60/pseuds/Genie60
Summary: S2 filler trying to answer the question: Why did Ross and Demelza switch sides of the bed?Pure fluff.





	Empty Bed, Empty Arms

**Author's Note:**

> Written on the sly at work this morning so I apologize for any mistakes, glitches, etc.  
> And I own nothing.

Demelza walked slowly back to Nampara, her mind still trying to grasp what had just happened.  One minute she and Ross were saying goodbye to Julia and the next he was torn from her by soldiers and carted off to jail.  There was no discussion, no farewells and no explanations.  Just an overwhelming feeling of emptiness.  First her child and now her husband gone from her life.  As she entered the house the silence was deafening.  There was no on to greet her, not even Jud and Prudie.  Demelza felt truly alone for the first time.  Climbing the stairs she wasn’t sure she could reenter their bedroom but was exhausted and needed to rest.  If the next days and weeks had her facing a trial or worse, she needed to regain her strength and will to deal with whatever else fate through her way.

Opening the door, there was still a slight creak in the hinges that Ross had neglected to fix.  Before she had complained because she was afraid the sound would wake Julia every time one of them entered or exited the room. Now it was a kind of comfort; a reminder of all that had passed in this room over the years and if the worst thing happened, it would summon up memories of those times.  The same sound was heard the first night she entered that room where her actions changed both their lives forever.  She had heard it vaguely again while she was in the throes of a fever, not a week since, when people came to tend her, including Elizabeth.  So now, the sound that was a disturbance became a calming one.

Demelza walked to the bed and sat down. The coverlet haphazardly thrown over the sheets in their haste to go to the cliffs.  She lay down on the side of the bed that had become hers since that night almost two years ago and felt uneasy.  Something was not right.  Of course she knew right away what it was.  It was the lack of another body countering her weight, however slight, on the mattress.  She slid towards the middle of the bed hoping it would feel more comfortable but as she did, the absence of her husband became an acute reality. Without bidding the lingering scent of his body permeated her nostrils. She could pick up the faint aroma of the mine, the sea, the grass and something that was uniquely Ross.  Rolling to her side, Demelza buried her head in his pillow, inhaling deeply as tears started to fall.  She clung to the crumpled down filled linen as if it were a buoy keeping her afloat, crushing it to her breast as she brought her knees up in a fetal position. Memories of her first night in this bed came crashing though as Demelza tried to close off her body to the outside world and fill the void that now consumed her.  Sliding a little more to Ross’s side of the bed, she stared at the ashes in the fireplace before her eyes gave way to sleep. With her head on one pillow and another cradled against her, Demelza fell into a fitful slumber, hoping that when she woke, this was all a terrible dream.

Was it hours or days that had passed?  Darkness had fallen across the room but Demelza had no sense of time or place.  Her eyes fluttered open and she suddenly felt cold but did not have the strength to get up and light the fires or even pull the covers over her body.  Instead she curled up a little more and as she did she felt something hindering her movement. For the first time she felt a weight around her middle and thought she was imagining it.  Taking a deep breath the scent she thought was coming from the bedclothes in her arms was actually coming from behind her. Turning her head she felt familiar bristling against her neck and caught a glimpse of his profile.  His curls seemed wilder than ever and she longed to run her fingers through them and brush them off his forehead so she could gaze into his eyes.

Demelza started to move out of his embrace when he pulled her closer to his chest. 

“Where are you going?” Ross asked. His voice was gruff as if he hadn’t had a drink in a long time.

“I was going to light the fire. Aren’t you cold?” she asked, her face still turned from his.

“No.  Not if you stay where you are,” he replied.

“Ross? When did you get back? What happened? Is it over?” her questions came in rapid fire succession because she needed to know what they were about to face.

“Goodness, you are inquisitive this early morning.  My love, my head is reeling and I just want to rest for as long as possible. There will be time enough to deal with what’s to come when the fully rises. For now just stay put,” he whispered into her hair before placing a kiss on her shoulder.

They lay like this for a few more minutes whereby Demelza felt herself falling back asleep, calmer now that she had Ross back in their bed.  She snuggled closer to him. With his body flush against hers, the warmth of him bled through to her and she found that a fire was not needed for the time being.  Demelza let herself relax and was just reaching that first level of dreaming when the voice behind her spoke.

“Why are you on my side of the bed, Demelza?”  He sounded half asleep himself and she waited before answering thinking he was talking through his own dream.

“Tell me,” he persisted. “Why are you on my side of the bed?”

“I don’t know Ross.  Actually I do.  I needed to feel you near me, in case….” She didn’t finish that sentence but continued. “The bed felt empty and cold when I was on the other side.  This way I could imagine you were still here. Besides, this is the side I started sleeping on that first night we spent together. Do you remember?” 

Again, emotions she didn’t expect to surface appeared once more. Tears she thought were spent flowed anew.  Ross felt and heard her crying and rolled her over so that he could look at her fully.

“My love, I do remember.  Nothing about that night has ever slipped from my memory nor will it ever.  I was just surprised after all this time you changed position. That’s all,” he said as he wiped the moisture from her cheek, placing kisses there instead.

“Actually, I’m more comfortable on this side Ross.  On those nights when you were down in the mine, I’d find myself moving towards the fire and in my mind, towards you.  I hope you’re not angry.”

Demelza raised her hand and now did what she wanted to do earlier and that was moving the curls off his forehead as she gazed into his eyes.

“No my love.  I’m not angry.  Whatever makes you feel more at ease is what I want.  And if stealing my side of the bed, which is closer to the heat is one of them, then so be it,” he said as he kissed her lips.

“Thank you. But I said this side was closer to the fire. I believe we generate enough heat on our own, don’t we?”

Demelza smiled up at her husband as her hands roamed his body clearly wanting to prove her theory and Ross happily complied.

 

**Author's Note:**

> From a suggestion/question on Tumblr by Sweetbog22. Hope this helps as many had the same question--why?


End file.
